Copyright The Toronto Star
See better with colour tinted spectacles
By Colette Sheridan
Though she tried her best, Megan Woods always found learning to read and spell a real struggle.
Then
last year, the 8-year-old North York girl received a "
gifted'' result
in a school screening test. That spurred her mother Nancy Woods, who
says she always knew Megan was bright, to find out why she didn't share
her mother's love affair with the printed word.
"As
a child I just loved to read and after Megan started school it was hard
to think she was missing out on that kind of joy,'' says Woods, an
investment adviser.
She spent several
weeks researching reading handicaps and literacy problems which led to
Megan being tested for a somewhat controversial perceptual condition
called Irlen syndrome, also known as scotopic sensitivity.
Megan's test, done by a specialist in the field, came back positive.
What
normal people see as text on a page appears quite differently to people
with the problem, experts in the syndrome say. A page of print may seem
blurry, surrounded by a halo or look as if it's separated by rivers of
white space.
This can cause headaches, teary eyes and a host of other symptoms that make schoolwork difficult.
Sufferers
use colored overlays placed on reading material or special glasses
which are believed to filter the spectrum of light as it enters the
brain, allowing them to better process visual information.
However,
some visual specialists and educators doubt the research and theory
behind the condition, making it a controversial diagnosis. It is still
largely unknown in much of Canada.
Megan's
treatment first involved using colored overlays. Now she uses a pair of
colored glasses and says the results are amazing.
"The words don't jump off the page any more,'' she says. "Things look clear (and) it is easier for me to read and write now.''
Megan's
mother was initially "very skeptical'' about the condition but says
when she watched her daughter get tested "as soon as they put the
colored overlays on Megan perked right up and said, 'That's it!' ''
Irlen
diagnosticians say it is a lifelong perceptual handicap, which usually
shows up acutely in early elementary school. The high contrast between
the black type and white page in a book, for example, is especially
difficult for many Irlen sufferers, they say.
The
initial screening test costs about $150 and if the syndrome is
confirmed, it costs about an additional $600 to be fitted with
prescription filters and to have them made in California and delivered
to you. Those lenses can then be taken to an optician and fitted into
regular eyeglass frames.
So far, none of
this is covered by health insurance or extended health benefits because
it has yet to be recognized as a legitimate medical condition. Some
municipalities have covered the cost of the lenses for people on social
assistance and some school boards, parent groups or community charities
have also helped in specific cases.
Optometrist
Cathy Chiarelli, chief of clinical services at the Vision Institute of
Canada, doesn't totally endorse the theory behind the syndrome, which
is viewed with skepticism by many professionals. The institute is a
charitable research, education and testing centre run largely by the
Ontario optometrists' association.
However,
she says research does back up some of the theory behind the condition.
For example, there are in fact two vision pathways of cells in the
brain - one of which can be affected by blue light filters.
One
is the brain's "sustained vision'' pathway - when the eyes fixate on
something and look for bright color and detail. The other is the "transient vision'' pathway - when the eyes are detecting movement or
low contrast visual information or when they must move from one fixed
object or word to another. Research has shown trouble with this
transient system can cause perception problems, which the blue filters
help, Chiarelli says.
Adel Francis is a
diagnostician at the Irlen Centre in Ottawa, the biggest centre in
Ontario. People with the syndrome can also have trouble with depth
perception and working under fluorescent lights, she says.
By
using colored filters to selectively change the specific wavelengths of
light entering the eye, the brain can process the information more
effectively, she says. Irlen treatment uses many combinations of colors
in filters tailored to each individual to co-ordinate the brain's two
visual pathway systems.
Francis says
before screening for Irlen syndrome everyone should get a complete eye
exam and vision screening to rule out other conditions that may cause
similar reading troubles, or exist at the same time as Irlen.
Chiarelli says using colored filters other than blue just "doesn't make sense'' according to current research.
Most
people don't realize there are many types of vision problems that can
affect reading, she says. Besides vision problems like far-sightedness,
near- sightedness or astigmatisms, a child could have a host of visual
co-ordination or perception problems that only a trained specialist can
discover.
Scott Irwin, a 30-year-old
assistant manager at a Metro photo store, was tested for Irlen syndrome
and also strongly endorses the treatment. For years he was told he was
a slow learner and reader but using the Irlen colored overlays has
really helped, he says.
"Without them,
it's kind of like having to look into the glare of a car's headlights
at night when I'm reading. The contrast is so extreme.''
Irlen
syndrome was identified in the early 1980s by California educational
psychologist Helen Irlen, who linked reading problems to an
oversensitivity to, and problems processing, the light spectrum. She
has patented her treatment and people who use it must be certified
through the Irlen Institute of Perceptual Development in California.
Though
Irlen experts say about 10 per cent of the population has the syndrome,
Chiarelli says others think it might be more like 2 or 3 per cent.
You can contact the Irlen Centre at (613) 230-3995. The Vision Institute can be reached at (416) 224-2273.
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